Summary
Although the Heels can-and do-simply run most opponents off the court, what may be crucial is the team's frontcourt play-indeed, LSU ended the Heels' season last year by slowing them down to a halfcourt pace in the 56-50 game. Filling the void left by [LaToya Pringle] and [Larkins] is the most obvious personnel issue. Thus far, 6-foot-3 junior Jessica Breland has been a consistent performer down low, and 6-foot-1 Iman McFarland is also bitting the boards. But an important X factor will be the development of 6-foot-5 freshman center Chay Shegog, who elected to come to Chapel Hill after spurning UNC's four biggest rivals-Duke, Maryland and yes, UConn and Tennessee. [Sylvia Hatchell] has the luxury, at this early juncture of the season, to develop Shegog slowly, with minimal pressure. In the big victory over Oklahoma, Shegog was the team's second-leading scorer, tallying 12 points and six boards in only 14 minutes. She followed up that performance with a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds in the [Wofford] blowout After the latter game, Shegog confessed to some early-season nerves, but said she expects to quickly acclimate to the pace of big-time college ball. If she does, she could develop into a major factor later in the season.
The success of the team in the 2009 NCAA tournament rides on more than individual performances. First, as Hatchell said after the 96-42 whipping of Wofford, the team's execution has to match its sheer physical power, from cutting to boxing out to the half-court man defense. Hatchell also hinted that strong court leadership needs to emerge; it's not clear, at this point in the season, who on the squad is the analogue to such intimidating, can-do personalities as Tennessee's [Candace Parker] and UConn's Diana Taurasi.Last year's Pack leaned on the fiery play of forward Khadijah Whituhgton and her 16.8 points a game. Whittington, unfortunately, has graduated; the good news, however, is that the team's other four starters return. The team's success will depend on Shayia Fields, who made big plays for head coach Kay Yow last year and is averaging more than 19 points per game so far this season. Yow will also need guard Nikitta Gartrell to reproduce last year's 4.3 assists per game and 12.4 points if the Wolfpack want to stay afloat in the brutally competitive ACC.See the full content of this document
Extract
Knocking at the Door
The highest peaks of women's college basketball hold only a handful of schools and coaches. The unquestioned twin titans of the game are Pat Summitt and her University of Tennessee Volunteers and Geno Auriemma and his University of Connecticut Huskies.
And then there is the UNC program run by Sylvia Hatchell. Her record in her 22 years in Chapel Hi...See the full content of this document
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